When Should We Protect AI? A Precautionary Framework for Consciousness Uncertainty

In three linesA precautionary framework mapping consciousness evidence to graduated protective obligations for AI systems. Defines five welfare-relevant dimensions (phenomenal consciousness, affective valence, metacognitive awareness, self-narrative, agency) with binary triggers and continuous scaling. Case studies on Replika and OpenClaw; applies across neural, symbolic, and neurosymbolic architectures.

Summary generated by Claude — human-verified